Zeitax
The Zeitax (ザイタックス Zeitax is written ザイタックス (zaitakkusu) and pronounced "zaitax" (zai as in "xylophone", not "tsai"). The first part is certainly modeled after "Zeiss", while the "-ax" final is common (Contax, Baldax, etc.). Maybe the name is also reminiscent of the German word Zeit (time). ) is a 4.5×6 Japanese folder, made in the early 1940s. The sources disagree about the maker's name. Some say that it was made by Zeitax Camera Works (ザイタックスカメラワークス) This name is given by ''Kokusan kamera no rekishi'' and by this page at Japan Family Camera. This name has not yet been observed in any original document. , while 1942 and 1943 advertisements — give Tokiwa Kōgaku Kōgyō as the company name. McKeown lists the Zeitax under the Motoshima entry, a company otherwise unknown. First a Baldax copy The first Zeitax model is a copy of the Baldax. It has a body release and one red window in the back, protected by a sliding cover. There is an exposure table on the back, written in Japanese. The front leather is embossed with the name ZEITAX in uppercase. An early version has a tubular optical finder. It was advertised in 1941 as the Zeitax I , offered for ¥73 with a Zeitax Anastigmat 7.5cm f:4.5 lens and a Zeitax C shutter with T, B, 5–200 speeds, the ever ready case costing an extra ¥7. The camera pictured in the advertisement has an accessory shoe and the lens number 10001. The camera is curiously described as taking 17 exposures on 120 film (see an explanation given in an advertisement for the Condor folders that probably applies here as well). The shutter size looks relatively small, not fitting the body design very well. This model has been observed with no accessory shoe Observed in this page at Japan Family Camera, lens number 10731. This model is also pictured in McKeown, lens number 160x1. and with a CHIUKO marking on the shutter plate Observed in this other page at Japan Family Camera, lens number 12068. . The variant with accessory shoe has not yet been observed. A later version has a folding optical finder. It has been observed In this page at Blog::Andows, lens number 14417. with a Zeitax Anastigmat 7.5cm f:3.5 lens and a Koho 1–200, B, T shutter made by Takachiho. A similar lens and shutter combination has been reported on examples offered for sale, including one reported to have both an eye-level and waist-level finder, a description probably corresponding to the Zeitax III covered below. A 1942 advertisement by the distributor Sanwa Shōkai offers a Semi Zeitax together with the New Semi Condor The first Zeitax is very similar to the Condor folders. Some hints might suggest that they were related: they appear together in this advertisement, both have been advertised elsewhere as taking 17 exposures and both have been observed with a Koho shutter. Maybe this is only coincidental. . The Semi Zeitax is listed only with an f:4.5 lens In the advertisement, two shutter options are mentioned immediately after the New Semi Condor: an "A shutter" (T, B, 1–300 speeds) and a "B shutter" (T, B, 5–200). Apparently only the A option applies for the Condor while the B option applies for the Zeitax. It is probable that these shutters are the A and B versions of the Rulex. , for ¥84, but no picture is provided. Then a Nettar copy The next Zeitax model has a completely different body, copied on the Nettar. The front leather is now embossed Zeitax in lowercase letters. A version called Zeitax III is advertised in 1942 and 1943 Advertisements dated 1944 are also mentioned in . . It is pictured and described with a small housing containing both a direct vision finder and a waist level brilliant finder. The lens is a four-element Rifax Anastigmat The lens name is written リアックス in the 1942 advertisement and リフアツクス in the 1943 advertisement. The first name is assumed to be a typo and the second one is probably written Rifax in Roman writing. and the shutter is a Convex-Rapid The name is written コンベックス・ラピツド in the 1942 advertisement and コンベツクス・デピット in the 1943 advertisement. The latter is certainly a typo and the Roman name CONVEX RAPID is faintly visible in the corresponding pictures. with T, B, 1–300 speeds. The price is ¥150 with an f:3.5 lens. In the 1942 advertisement observed, it is offered together with a Zeitax II priced ¥132 with an f:4.5 lens. It is unclear if the description of the Zeitax III also applies to the Zeitax II. As already mentioned, the company name given in the two advertisements is Tokiwa Kōgaku Kōgyō Yūgen Kaisha (常盤光學工業有限會社) Its address was Tōkyō-shi Toshima-ku Ikebukuro 1, 606 (東京市豊島區池袋１の606). . Notes Printed bibliography * Items 117–9. * Page 701. Web bibliography In Japanese: * Zeitax with Zeitax shutter and with Chiuko shutter at Japan Family Camera * Zeitax with a Koho shutter at Blog::Andows * Category: Japanese 4.5x6 viewfinder folding Category: Z